


Zerodin Week Prompts

by LeeLeeMak



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: AUs, M/M, Trans Leo, also just because i can, demisexual niles, it's very confusing even to me, neither of these are particularly important but i just need u to know this is how it is, tags will go up as needed, the first one is modern with sci-fi fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-20 15:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10665810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeLeeMak/pseuds/LeeLeeMak
Summary: Day 1 Stardust -- Niles is an immortal older than the Earth itself, summoned by a socially awkward kid named Leo; Owain is Leo's roommate who kind of has a crush on his roommate's poltergeist, not that that's weird or anything.Day 2 Names -- Niles is tasked with naming something.





	1. Stardust

**Author's Note:**

> this isn't necessarily completely related to "Stardust" the word just prompted the idea and I like mortal-immortal relationships they're angsty.

Niles had lived for a while. Not in the sense that he’d seen civilizations grow and fall, though he certainly had. No, Niles had been alive long enough to see  _ planets _ born and die, has seen stars turn to novas turn to holes, had seen the farthest reaches of the universe lose energy. He’d even seen species regard him as a god and revolt against him when they found he was just a consciousness floating through the vastness of space like the rest of them. He lived long enough to know that Niles wasn’t his name, just a moniker given to him by a little boy who’d managed to channel and bond with him. Before that he was Zero, and before that he was something he couldn’t remember. Maybe he’d always been Zero before he’d been Niles; he was too old to remember for sure. Most of all, he had lived long enough to know that there was no god, and even if there was she was cruel and petty and, like him, was just a consciousness floating through space.

He was watching that little boy, his name was Leo, eat with his friends at school. How such a young creature managed to connect with Niles was beyond his comprehension, though honestly he didn’t even care to try anymore. Leo said he was a genius, but the boy couldn’t even understand the laws of entropic creation so he really couldn’t be that smart. He wasn’t even that old either, just twenty years. Niles wasn’t sure how long Earth years were in the grand scheme of things, but twenty was a rather low number so he imagined the boy was still juvenile. 

Sitting across from Leo was a rambunctious boy named Owain, who had been Leo’s friend since the start of his fourth school tier. They lived together that first so-called year and every year after. Niles suspected it was because Leo had trouble making connections with other people, and that was also why the young boy had summoned a cosmological entity to be his friend as well. 

“Is your imaginary friend here?” Owain would ask. 

“He isn’t imaginary,” Leo would scoff. “But yes, he’s here.”

Leo was the only one who could see him, normally. If Niles took a physical form everyone could see him, but he wasn’t sure he wanted that. It was bad enough to have a toddler haggling him all the time. He’d been deified once, he didn’t want to risk it again.

Currently, Leo and Owain were just sitting and eating. Niles had situated himself beside Leo, but not close enough incase the boy got any idea that they were friends. Owain was picking at his starch sticks, deep fried beyond any realm of Niles’s comprehension, and Leo was reading a book while picking at the remnants of his greenery tossed with different kinds of greenery. 

Owain opened his mouth to speak, taking in a breath that caught both Leo’s and Niles’s attention, but thought better of his comment and for once in his life closed his mouth before he could say anything. 

“Uh-oh,” Leo mumbled. “What’s on your mind that’s got you shutting up?”

Owain popped a soggy stick in his mouth. For all the teasing Niles did at Owain’s expense, he felt a pang of some kind of worry go through him. Niles had been there for the entirety of Leo and Owain’s friendship and nearly felt as close to the odd boy as Leo did. Seeing him quiet was no good sign and, oddly, made Niles feel some kind of anxiety. 

“It’s really nothing,” Owain said, vastly out of character. He had none of his usual flair or even an inch of his normal happiness. Niles was beginning to feel uncomfortable. “I’m just thinking about Niles.” He felt some relief then, Owain pondering Niles’s confusing existence was normal. Though this sullenness wasn’t. Usually when Owain was thinking about Niles, he was imagining some grand quest Niles had never actually gone on with himself and Leo as companions. Owain had written stories of them. Niles liked the one where Leo was a prince and Niles and Owain were his retainers best. Not being the center of attention just because he was impossibly old was nice. Owain seemed to get that somehow.

When Owain didn’t elaborate on why he was thinking about Niles, Leo prodded at him again. “Oh, you know. Just like. Stuff.” Leo turned to Niles with his eyebrow raised as Owain absently chewed on another stick. Something was seriously wrong with the boy-- he never spoke so simply or shortly. 

Niles only shrugged, which resulted in Leo rolling his eyes.

“I gotta get to class,” Owain mumbled. He picked up his bag and plate of food, making a dramatic pose once he rose. “The hero of worlds will see you later this evening, Prince of Darkness! Shall we be meeting for our regular assembly with your patron deity?”

Ah, right. It was a full moon tonight. “Yes,” Leo said. “I haven’t got anything, and he doesn’t ever do anything beside play poltergeist,” Niles reached across and moved Leo’s plate in protest. It shifted an inch. Neither of them cared to noticed. “So both of us will be there.”

Owain gave a convoluted salute and turned around to leave. As he started walking away, Niles made the whimful decision to follow him. Leo raised his eyebrow, but didn’t opt to say anything. They were in a public place after all, and Niles making himself invisible to everyone but Leo didn’t usually bode well for Leo’s popularity in public. 

Niles followed Owain all the way out to the art building on the outside of campus, where hardly anyone existed except for art students who were high and could kind of see Niles out of the side of their vision if they tried hard enough. He’d gotten some really funny looks from those kids and would sometimes follow Owain out here just to freak those guys out. This time, though, Niles was following out of curiosity. Not any sort of worry. Niles learned long ago not to worry about people who were born and who died in a blink of his eye. 

They didn’t make it to the art building. Halfway there, on the back sidewalk, where no one but Owain ventured, the boy stopped still in the middle of the concrete. Niles bumped into him. Which is to say, he sort of floated halfway through Owain’s physical form before he pulled away because Niles knew have an incorporeal being floating through you isn’t comfortable.

Owain shivered after Niles separate from him, but the boy seemed undeterred from the experience. “So, you did follow me?”

Niles didn’t bother answering in any way. Owain wouldn’t be able to perceive any answer he could give.

“I thought I kind of felt you back there.” Owain struck a pose which utilized his hand covering his face. Niles could see that Owain thought he was being clever, covering his face so that Niles couldn’t see his obvious discomfort at... something. “Your dark presence is no match for my knowledge of the darkness itself--”

“Oh please,” Niles huffed. “You hardly know what darkness is. I was quite literally born out of it and festered in it for millennia before you planet was even constructed.”

They stood silent for a time. Owain stood completely still, frozen in his pose, and for a moment Niles wondered if he’d accidentally used some sort of spell on the poor boy.

“What... did you say?” 

Niles blinked. “You heard that?”

Owain’s eyes were wide, but he stuck to his pose. Niles bent over so that he was in Owain’s field of vision.  The boy was actively avoiding his gaze. Niles repeated, “You heard that? You heard me say that?”

Owain gulped. “I, uh. Yeah, I think I did. And all that too.”

No one beyond Leo -- and some ridiculously powerful priests -- had ever heard Niles without him wanting to hear them. Had he slipped up in his brief frustration with Owain and allowed the boy to hear him? Niles had done that before, gotten tired of Owain’s rantings and mocked him for only Leo to hear and pretend not to laugh. But Owain had never heard him before, when he’d done that. At most the only time Owain had ever heard him was when Niles messed with the poor boy’s dreams and made him wake up with a dry, sticky dark stain in his sheets.

Niles willed a barrier between them that should completely block his voice from the man’s ears. “What about now?”

Owain straightened up, finally, and slowly nodded his head. He was vaguely looking in Niles’s direction, as if he could sort of see him but not completely.

“Did you take anything this morning?” It was the only thing Niles could think of. “Some kind of drug?”

Owain scowled. “Nothing beyond my usual ones.” He scratched his head. It seemed he wasn't nearly as weirded out about this as Niles was. “I think I could see you at lunch, too. Like not totally but outlined enough that I could tell you were there. Is this because of the moon tonight or something?”

Niles scoffed. As if he could be influenced by something as small as a full moon. “Maybe you’re going nuts. Got a history of nutsos in your family?”

Owain took a surprising amount of time to ponder that. “My grandpa was a huge dick, apparently, but I don’t know if he was actually mentally ill.”

“It wasn’t a serious question.”

“Oh.”

They stood in silence, again. Niles was beginning to get uncomfortable. Niles  _ never _ got uncomfortable. Owain must have been getting uncomfortable too because he started shifting around on his feet. 

“Can I ask you a serious question?”

Niles didn’t see the harm in it. Anything the poor boy could ask, he wouldn’t understand the answer Niles would give him. “Go ahead.”

“What do you look like?” He met Niles’s eyes, and for a moment Niles thought maybe Owain could see him. “Leo told me sometimes you can make a physical form.”

“Leo’s never even seen me do that, I haven’t done it in... Before I met him.”

“So you  _ can _ make a physical form?”

“Yes.”

“What’s it look like?”

“What do you want it to look like?”

Owain blushed up to his ears. Niles grinned, almost certain that he knew what Owain was thinking. It involved dark skin, white hair, and a rather girthy human appendage. Niles had read Owain’s diary before.

“I--” Owain cleared his throat and looked away, his blush spreading down his neck. “You’ve been a part of group for a while now--”

“Technically, you became a part of my group.”

“And, I mean, I know you have this poltergeist thing down, but it’d be cool if you were actually there, you know?”

“Aww,” Niles cooed. “Little Odin Dark wants to play with Niles, his umbral crush born from the darkness.”

Owain looked up at him with shock. “You-- You’ve read my diary?”

Niles grinned. “You mean your friend fiction? Yeah, I have. It’s quite good, you should publish it.” When Owain didn’t answer, just blushed redder and looked away, Niles sighed. Using a few seconds to concentrate, he conjured up some kind of physical form that resembled the little doodles he’d seen in the margin of Owain’s diary. “Look, there’s something you have to know about me.”

Owain just stared at him, his jaw agape and completely in awe of Niles (that’s what he’d like to think anyway). 

“You might think I have answers to why you can suddenly hear me without my making it possible, but I don’t. Could be coincidence, could be some higher power messing around, it could just be because I’ve known you for three years now. Maybe Leo did something, he’s the one who summoned me in the first place. I’m not a god. I’m just alive.” He paused for a moment. “Although, I’m not even really sure of that.”

Owain blinked. “That’s-- but that form is the one I made up for you.”

“All of that, and that’s what you latch on to?”

“No, I mean, yeah, but,” Owain wetted his lips. “Why?”

Niles shrugged. “A form you’re most comfortable with or something.” Then, he grinned. “I don’t think you’d like if I showed up with eight tentacles all slimey and gooey, ready and waiting for you.”

Owain pouted, which was incredibly cute if only Niles understood the concept of human cuteness. “Why didn’t you pick that? Why keep my comfort in mind?”

Niles found that he didn’t  _ know _ why, just that he did. He waved off the question, but before he could comment, Owain broke into a grin. “You like me!”

Niles pouted, which Owain thought was very cute because Owain did understand the concept of human cuteness. “Any form of affection I may have for you was created out of necessity.”

Owain started laughing and Niles wondered if he was ever going to take this situation seriously. “Nah, you love me.”

“I assure you I don’t. I have never loved anyone.”

Owain’s grin broke. He stared at Niles as if he were some foreign object. “How can you, I mean, how can you live without love?”

Niles shrugged. “I’m too old to understand mortal concepts like that anymore.”

“Have you ever had a family?”

Niles thought for a moment. Whatever created him certainly wasn’t a parent, considering he never knew what or who it was. Any other long-lived creature he ran into was too chaotic for his liking so he didn’t hang around them much. There was a girl, once, that he clung to for a while. He couldn’t remember her completely, except that it was years ago and he always twisted her hair into braids for her. “I had a daughter, once, I think.” And then, to change the subject, “Don’t you have class?”

Owain took out his phone and checked the time, grimacing. Niles hoped that meant he was going to leave now. “I’m already late. I can miss a day.” He grabbed Niles’s hand, and Niles was shocked to find how utterly warm and pleasing the boy’s hand was. “C’mon, I know a great place in the gardens we can sit and talk. Now that I can hear you, I wanna hear all about your life!”

An hour later they were still in the gardens, but Niles wasn’t talking about his own life. Owain was going on and on about his. And Niles... didn’t mind. He liked hearing about Owain, liked hearing him talk and liked watching him be excited. The boy’s eyes lit up and he was so animated... Niles had seen him talk before, but it was never directed at him so he’d never experienced the magic that was Owain, and now... He wanted to reach out and run his fingers through Owain’s hair, see if it was as warm as the sun like it looked like it was. He wanted to touch his face, just trace his features and commit them to memory for the inevitable day Owain would be gone. 

Niles had been alive in the universe for a while now, but he’d really only connected with one person before and she was long gone. So as he lied in the grass with Owain, watching the boy with all sorts of numbers of stars in him, he wasn’t sure exactly what it was that he was feeling, but he did know he wasn’t going to let it waste away this time. 


	2. Names

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niles is tasked with naming something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is much shorter but I like it much better.
> 
> Also yeah Odin had the baby. Whether it's bc he's trans or it's mpreg is up to you, s'not important to the story.

The baby in his arms is heavy and big, according to the midwife. Niles has never actually held a baby before so he can’t confirm or deny that. He remembers that King Xander’s son was born small and a bit weak, but the boy was also a few weeks premature. Niles wonders if the little prince Siegbert would be as big as his girl, if he’d only gotten the chance.

She’s sleeping now, finally, after what felt like hours of screaming and trying to get her cleaned up. Odin is sleeping too, curled up on his side and visibly exhausted. The poor mage didn’t get a chance to clean up like the baby did. After he’d held her and she was passed on to wash, he’d passed right out. Niles sat beside him and wiped his face -- covered in sweat and grime -- clean with a cloth, just waiting for the midwife to bring their girl back.

Niles never thought he’d have a girl, let alone any child, and now she’s right here in his arms. She has the cutest little nose and Niles is still in complete disbelief that this child is _his_ that he helped _make_ her that this big fat chunky baby was inside Odin for _nine_ months and the man never showed beyond a few inches. It didn’t feel possible, any of it.

“You’ll have to name her,” Lord Leo says as he walks in. He stands by Niles for a moment and holds out his arms. Niles gives him the baby without a thought. “Did you two discuss anything?”

Niles watches as his lord curls his finger in front of the baby’s face, even though she’s asleep and not paying attention (at least, Niles hopes she’s still asleep). “We thought of some things. Odin was convinced she was a boy, though, so that’s all we have.”

Leo scoffed amusedly. “You could always give her a male name. I don’t know if she’d be fond of it, though.”

Niles smiles. “You never know. She may love it. Maybe she’ll turn out to be a boy afterall.”

Leo hummed softly, but didn’t say anything. Truth be told, Niles had followed Odin’s intuition on their baby being a boy. They probably should have thought up a girl’s name just in case, but Odin had been so entirely confident that it hadn’t occurred to either of them to question it. Niles had heard Odin call the baby a number of things during the last few months -- his favorite had been Lonk or something, who names their kid _that_? -- and a few of them could pass off for gender neutral, but Niles wanted something that would embody this little girl, not something that was picked when her fathers thought she was something else. And, well, if she does turn out to be a boy later on, that’s fine. Maybe they’ll call him Lonk, if he wants them to pick a name.

Odin mumbles in his sleep and shifts a little. He mumbles again, and Niles realizes that he’s awake, actually, and is trying to tell him something. “You pick somethin,” is what he’s saying. “‘M too tired...”

Leo holds back a cackle, trying not to wake the baby. “He _doesn’t_ want to name something?”

Normally Niles would laugh at the thought as well, but right now he’s too busy looking at his little girl and trying to think. He never, never thought he’d be blessed with a child, or even with a spouse, so the thought of a name had never occurred to him. There was one thing, though...

“Éponine,” he says. “We’ll call her Éponine.”

Leo raises an eyebrow at Niles, but Niles just motions for him to give him Éponine back. “Interesting,” is all his lord says.

“Nini?” Odin mumbles. “Nah, Ni _na_ ,” and he goes back to sleep.

Niles holds Éponine in his arms and promises her, with a kiss to her little forehead, that she won’t ever have to go through what Niles did, or what Odin did either, for that matter. Both of her fathers will always be there for her, he tells her with his eyes. She wakes up and stares at him, cooing and reaching out for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leo's reaction to Éponine's name is in reference to an OC of mine who probably won't ever make a public appearance so I made it as ambiguous as possible while still referencing her bc I'm a self-loving bitch. 
> 
> hmu if u wanna know about her, tumblr is [iankabras-arse](http://iankabras-arse.tumblr.com/) or if you just wanna chat too i'm down.


	3. Family and Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niles wakes up to the smell of cooking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have any ideas for Exalted but I'm still working on Scars it's just taking me a while bc it's somewhat porny and I'm nervous. Also I wanted to get Niles a fic out on his big day❤︎

Niles wakes up momentarily, but not completely, when the weight of the bed shifts. Owain leaves his arms cold and empty, but uses his pillow to replace the emptiness left by his absence. Niles buries his nose in the pillow, bringing his legs up to grasp it from all angles, and lets out a content sigh. It's not Owain, but it's warm like Owain and it smells like Owain, so it will have to do. He falls back asleep. 

He isn't sure how much longer he sleeps for, but he’s woken again by the smell of bacon and baking bread. He figures he has a good couple minutes where he's allowed to stay in bed and bask in the warm sunlight filtering through the blinds. Then, his door opens with a creak and he hears tiny, unsure footsteps approaching. He smiles to himself and turns to his other side, coming face to face with one of his tiny baby girls.

Ophelia gives him a toothy grin and says softly, “Hi, Daddy.”

Niles reaches for her and brings her up on the bed with him. “You got here all by yourself?” Ophelia giggles, and Niles is happy that she knows how big of an accomplishment she knows that is. “My big girl,” he says when she lays down on his chest so he can rub circles into her small back. 

He nearly falls asleep again, and Ophelia definitely has, but the sound of the door opening further has him deciding to blink away the rest of his sleepiness and rise up. Ophelia grunts as he sits up, but doesn't wake up except to bury herself further into his nightshirt. From the door, Owain smiles at him and then looks down. Niles follows his eyes and sees that Nina, brave as ever, is holding something far too large for her. She probably begged Owain to carry whatever it is and is too stubborn now to admit that she needs help. Owain opens the door more for her and she struggles to keep the tray -- full of breakfast foods, it seems -- balanced. 

“What’s this for?” Niles asks as Owain takes Ophelia from his lap and Nina reaches up to gift him the tray. She can’t actually place it on his lap, her arms are very tiny, so Niles grabs it from her and places it on his legs.

Nina just smiles at him, even toothier than Ophelia. “Happy birthday, Daddy!”

She hops up on the bed, and Niles has to grab the tray to make sure it doesn’t tip, but he doesn’t mind. He smiles at the three of them, even though Ophelia is long asleep in Owain’s arms, and smiles at his husband. “Ah,” he says, “it’s that time already?”

Owain chuckles as he sits next to Niles. “Indeed,” he gives him  quick kiss on the lips, with Nina pretending to be disgusted. “A most joyous day of births to you, my love.”

Niles would never admit it, but even having been together for a little over a decade and with two little girls, Owain calling him  _ his love _ would always make Niles’s heart soar.

“Daddy, you gotta eat your breakfast.” Nina climbs over to him and leans against his arm. “Dad says we can’t open presents if you don’t eat your breakfast!”

He ruffles her hair and begins to eat, occasionally passing along a bite to family members who open their mouths for him. Niles couldn’t remember a time before Owain where he’d had a birthday like this. Sure, when he met Leo they celebrated a little, but nothing like breakfast in bed while his five year old eggs him on to eat faster. Niles thinks that this moment makes all the things he went through as a child worth it, to actually celebrate his birthday with a family he crafted and earned.

He loses himself to a moment of utter emotion and kisses Nina on the forehead before she can run away. His heart swells when, instead of running away, she nuzzles closer to his side. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❤︎❤︎happy birthday to my best boy❤︎❤︎

**Author's Note:**

> Owain helps Niles understand love but Niles doesn't get it until after Owain dies and he's alone again that's canon to this fic.


End file.
